remembertheracers

Justin Elkins without doubt Also Finn Rune Jensen, at times magnificent but more often embarrassing. At a higher level Kai Niemi and Jimmy Nilsen, world class riders who never seemed to reproduce their form regularly in the league over the years.

My obvious reaction is to say Reading Smallmead, but many old timers say Tilehurst was more technical and atmospheric. Being neutral I'd say the marvellous little St Austell/Trelawny track at the Clay Country Moto Parc. My father reckons Southampton was terrific too.

Privatisation of the Royal Mail will probably be the same joy as the utilities, British rail etc. Double your money on shares, more for insider banks, higher prices and no improvement in service. My first st privatisation issue arrived on a Tuesday! And for all its good intentions I found the online stuff so far is hard work.

Reports on the BT Sport project are not good in the short term, so any interest there seems unlikely. Sky, it appears, would want paying to keep up the current schedule. I suggest Mr Rising's earlier suggestion might be correct -that they might show play-offs only or simply cherry pick an odd match here or there. The consensus here seems to be that the EL is no longer a credible sport, that is very sad. Tinkering here and there will not do this winter...

PER was magnificent and 1990 was Reading's greatest year. 1st and 3rd in the World Final, League and I think also KO Cup winners. I thought Todd Wiltshire was a future World Champion until his back injuries. Happily Todd recovered, Per is very badly paralysed. A double tragedy for Reading and Swindon will sympathise with former Robin Lee Richardson so badly missed and Leigh Adams paralysed. Four really great riders there, all badly injured or worse. Makes you realise how dangerous the sport can be, even though Adams' injuries weren't from speedway.

Time and time again Bridger lets himself down. He was a potential talent but needed tough handling even in these politically correct days. He clearly lost his way and will now never make a top rider.

I enjoyed it and the commentary without the shouting and yelling was such a pleasant change. Loved Scotty likening Nicki P to a Jack Russell too! Some of the linking up was dodgy but this was their first effort - and with no Tony Olsson/Phil Rising there. I agree a lifetime rule should be changed. The referee should have discretion to put all four back, Lindgren did the right thing in avoiding what looked a potential big time crash and Vaculik was innocently collected. Think you are outvoted!

Ben Barker's reputation on and off track stinks to high heaven. Stupid Cookie for getting sucked in.

Lets face facts - only Tai Woffinden has a real future. Harris, Nicholls and Kennett are on the way down; King and Barker are as good as they are going to be. Bridger is probably the same. Kennett is a proven cheat, Barker and Bridger are brats. They may not be ready but Worrall, Birks, Cook - and down the track Ellis - have futures. Is it time to patch up with second best, or go for an all out youth policy with Tai as the leader?

Eurosport every time. The guy in the studio was different, less posh but he didn't drive me around the bend like Ermolenko who sat on the fence and took a lot of words to say very little. They also have Pearson shouting less and cut down on the time with Baldy and Kelv. Hope Sky stick with British speedway, but also hope it is one big league next year. Scunthorpe and Somerset were the best two meetings this year, but KL next Weds was good. Prefer Tuesday or Wednesday night matches too. The missus likes her soaps on a Monday...which made Mondays at Smallmead a good night to go out!

First let me say I have no intention of giving up on Speedway Star, I think it is an excllent publication covering a struggling minority sport. It had a revamp at the start of the season, but after two months I have to say I dislike the format. I can see that the magazine now tries to get two or three stories on each club, but dislike the way you have to leap around to find what you want. As there are no Reading Racers I really have no axe to grind, except that I'd like to find the non news stories on Belle Vue, Poole, Swindon or whoever in one place and not dotted around. Some of the writers seem less interesting than say twenty years ago, but in part that maybe me having lost Reading, and even dear old Oxford. Does anyone else have any thoughts? My only other criticism is the big cutback on the Grand Prix previews. Otherwise well done Mr Rising et al

Reading never seemed to start on time at Smallmead and, on my trips to Blunsdon, Swindon seem not to. Their local news reporter Andy Warren times the start of each race, so its easy to check on the Swindon Advertiser site. Unless there is a compelling reason not to its just unfair on the fans who have got there on time after work etc and with work the next morning. I see Birmingham finished their 15 races just before 9pm last night.

Sky seem to assume that having a female will keep the blokes happy - rubbish. If Pearson and Tatum played back and analysed their commentary they would learn and improve, I like the Chris Louis bit, I'd like to see more different riders interviewed - eg North and Birks last night. And for gods sake pension off Ermolenko!

For a first effort Eurosport did well. I liked Keith Heuwen and, while some of the studio guests were good, we were often subjected to the ramblings of Sam Ermolenko. I thought the Aussie race commentators were very good, enjoyed hearing Johnno again.

I think Speedway Mail was fun, but made a huge mistake in going to a magazine format. As a package the Star was always superior, but the Mail did offer a different angle sometimes.

Right, time to save money. For the odd bit of football I watch and the very poor entertainment of most, but not all, Elite League matches televised last year the expensive Sky Sports can go. We are all potentially better off with Eurosport taking the GP's on. I'm sure we will get some grumbles but most of the Sky team attract a lot of moans on here. Hopefully they will get commentators who both repeat themselves and shout far less. Yes shout when something fantastic happens but far, far less.

People are less willing to put up with endless delays in the modern era as the staia get more and more out f date. If I go to football, which I don't anymore, I get 90 minutes with the ball in play for about 6 of them - and a fifteen minute half time.If I go to ice hockey I get three twenty minute periods and the clock stops when play does - and two 15 minute breaks. At football and ice hockey I get a seat, the latter is indoors. At speedway I get 15/16 minutes of racing with about one hundred and fifteen minutes of delays, gardening at the tapes etc ' When we had second halves in two 20 races in 2 hours generally. Therein lies one of the sport's biggest problem. Even Kelvin Tatum was getting grumpy about delays on Sky last year and he was paid to be there!

Done, well thought out, good luck with it.

Darcy Ward is clearly the Michael Lee of 2012/3. A tragic waste of a great talent on a bike, but a disaster in bed, socially and any other aspect you care to think of. Middlo is a nice guy but has achieved very little given the powerful Poole teams he has managed. No one, even the more grounded Rosco. could do much better with the limited GB talent available to him. The difference is in 1980 speedway was still a major attraction. Today, and I hate it, the sport is a joke. Ward is a walking disaster, Middlo should have said no comment. End of...

With only one year on Mike Bowden's lease and few riding assets the place can't be worth much.A shame, always enjoyed visiting the place. With Exeter, Trelawny and Weymouth long gone its a huge loss to the sport.

Good luck Lee. A great prospect before he walked away from the sport and later was still an entertainer when he returned.

There are NO British riders worthy of a regular spot right now. Possibly Jepsen Jensen was sounded out and preferred to wait - itsexpensive to ride the GP's unless you are among the Elite top few..

That is so true. I can assure you Swindon really miss both Reading and Oxford, though a few Racers fans went to Blunsdon regularly when Matej Zagar was starring for the Robins